Aerospace students restore aircraft

Top: Lance Feagley, Clayton Main and Landon Davis work on an aircraft wing. Above: Travis Peeples, foregroun, works with other students and EAA volunteers. COURTESY PHOTOS

Special to Highlands Today
Published: November 21, 2013

LAKE PLACID - Lake Placid High School aerospace students worked on preparing two classic aircraft for new fabric covering recently.

A 1946 Aeronca Champ and a 1958 Aeronca Tri-Champ are youth project aircraft at the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1240 Aviation Development Center.

The center, located on the Sebring Regional Airport flight line, continues to support youth aviation education with hands-on technical learning, states a news release.

Many early aircraft were covered with fabric to save weight and make repairs easier.

"Using a state-of-the-art fabric covering system, students are using new technology to breathe new life into two classic aircraft. The age of an aircraft means little to the airworthy status as long as it passes a rigorous annual inspection conducted by a certified FAA inspector," the news release adds.

"Although there is no immediate timeline for the completion of the restoration, we will take as long as we need to do a quality job meeting FAA aircraft certification standards," said John Rousch, EAA Chapter 1240 youth program coordinator and aerospace instructor at Lake Placid High School.

The EAA Chapter 1240 Aviation Development Center is a community resource and is part of a worldwide association dedicated to advancing general aviation through home-built aircraft, aircraft restoration, promoting aviation education and safety and providing programs to encourage more youth to be actively engaged in aviation.

EAA Chapter 1240 meets at 6 p.m. every third Thursday at the center. After the business meeting, an aviation program or activity is offered.

The program speaker at today's meeting is Bill Brennard, retired air racer, protégé of Steve Whitman and longtime EAA member.

An aircraft restoration expert, Brennard led the restoration of a 1931 Stinson Tri-Motor. He will speak at 6:45 p.m.

For more information, go to eaa1240.org or contact John Rousch at jhr@strato.net.